with algerian authorities. >> by all indications, this is a terrorist act. and the united states strongly condemns it. >> reporter: the terrorist group called the mass brigade is reportedly under the command of this man. he goes by an arabic nickname meaning one eyed man and is known to have ties to al qaeda. the obama administration says it is not releasing the names of the americans being held hostage for their own security. >> i'm not going to get into any further details as we continue to work on this issue with the algerian authorities. >> reporter: the militants say they took over the plant in retaliation for french air strikes against nearby mali. with u.s. support the french started bombing last week to keep islamic groups from taking over the country. the terrorists say they won't release any hostages until france calls off the military operations. workers at the complex are from several countries. leaders from all the nations are working with the algerian military which says it has the

militants surrounded with no way to escape. susan mcginnis, cbs news, washington. the natural gas field is a joint venture involving algeria, norway and bp. we are still awaiting more details about as many as 20 hostages to reportedly escaped today. since hurricane katrina seven years ago inspectors have found hundreds of levees in danger of failing in 37 states. local governments are responsible for upgrading unacceptable levees but some local officials say repairs could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. the condition of flood control became a hot button issue in 2005 when katrina's rain toppled levees in new orleans, flooded the city and killed 1800 people. coming up later this morning we'll have a live report on how northern california levees could be at risk, as well. just about all of boeing 787 dreamliner jets are now grounded indefinitely because of safety concerns. just hours ago air safety

authorities in europe, japan and india had joined the u.s. in ordering the grounding and safety review of the planes. this follows a series of incidents involving the aircraft in just the recent days. yesterday the federal aviation administration said the 787 should be grounded until the risk of battery fires is resolved. >> the key is to be able to understand what's going on with these aircraft, get them fixed and make sure if it's a design issue, make the appropriate change. >> a polish airline is now the only carrier still using the plane. the only 787 service in the bay area is all nippon airways. new flights between san jose and tokyo for the time being, ana for the time being is putting passengers on other flights. a san mateo man is accused of operating an illegal gun store out of his home. the county sheriff's department says investigate raided antonio infante's home on friday.

the d.a. says an assault rifle, high capacity magazines, three his symptoms and ammunition were removed from the house as well as three pistols. president obama has laid down his proposal to curb gun violence but now comes the tough part getting congress to go along with his plan. the sweeping half billion- dollar plan calls for a ban on assault rifles and expanded background checks on customers for every gun purchased. it would also limit ammunition magazines to a maximum of 10 rounds and impose stiffer penalties for gun trafficking. >> i'm calling on congress to pass some very specific proposals right away. if there's even one life that can be saved then we have an obligation to try. >> the president signed 23 executive orders aimed at reducing gun violence but his key proposal needs congressional approval. house speaker john boehner is showing no sign of urgency to act on it. the nra was quick to announce

its opposition to any weapons ban. >> anybody who dies from any reason at the hands of a criminal or somebody who is insane or in an accident for that matter is a tragedy. nobody's saying it isn't. but what i am saying is that banning these firearms is not going to accomplish very much. >> gun owners advocates say they are open to the idea of expanding background checks. in a bay area poll conducted by surveyusa 71% of respondents support an assault weapons ban and 76% capacity limits. president obama is creating eight new positions for his upcoming inauguration. citizen cochairs meant to highlight his first term accomplishments. they will take part in the inaugural parade and attend because. one is a woman with a brain tumor no longer denied healthcare for a pre-existing condition and and auto worker

who got her job back after of general motors bailout. 4:36. the weekend is approaching and we are are in a big warmup. >> i'm liking it. >> is the weekend close? >> it's thursday. we can say that. >> oh, man it is, and i'm getting excited! we are chilly in spots this morning but i think as we head toward the afternoon we'll see a lot of sunshine and some very mild temperatures outside across much of the bay area. right now, yeah, we still have cold numbers. freezing in livermore, 32 degrees. 30 in concord. of course, yesterday at this time we had more widespread 20s inland. today still chilly 27 degrees in santa rosa but generally these temperatures up a few degrees from yesterday. and well, it's going to warm up nicely toward the afternoon. high pressure sticking around through the weekend. a lot of sunshine coming our way. this afternoon warming up to 63 in san jose, 62 in santa rosa and about 63 degrees in redwood city. more on that weekend forecast coming up. right now let's check the roads

with elizabeth. >> thank you, lawrence. at 4:37 this morning, overall big picture we're doing okay. here's a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza. there is some roadwork this morning. they usually wrap up at 5:00 but a couple of lanes are blocked on the incline section heading into san francisco. but traffic is so light there is not much of a delay at all but you will see it out there as you make your way towards treasure island. this is one accident we're following eastbound 4 approaching 242. this is heading into concord. so just a heads up. there's also some roadwork in lanes across that stretch and the eastbound highway 4 approaching loveridge. it actually looks like the westbound lanes are seeing a few brake lights already this morning heading out of antioch past a street. more roadwork this morning across the dumbarton bridge looks like on the westbound side of 84. coming up we'll get a check of mass transit. back to you guys. >> thank you. a star football player is the victim of a hoax involving a woman he said was his girlfriend. cbs 5 reporter anne makovec is in the newsroom this morning

reporting the case has a bay area angle. anne. >> reporter: it's a bizarre story has a lot of people talking. the couple supposedly met after a game at stanford. the big question this morning, how could a football star good- looking eligible bachelor fall for a fake girlfriend and how could they continue this for three years? here he is talking about her after he believed that she had died of leukemia. >> every letter she sent me being humble, gracious, always i love you. >> the notre dame football player and his 22-year-old "girlfriend" had an online relationship for three years before she supposedly died. it turns out she never existed. here's the woman who was believed to be his girlfriend, the website deadspin.com discovering this woman is actually from torrence and has no connection to the football star at all. >> we found the actual alive

doesn't have leukemia and has never met the person. that opened things up. >> he released a statement saying, to realize that i was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was and is painful and humiliating. that website you just heard from the editor of the website says that the story was con together by his long-time friend. >> that's a head shaker. an attempted abduction in the south bay, they are looking for a suspect. they have a composite sketch of the man. here it is. witnesses say the man is hispanic in his late 20s to early 30s, 5'6", medium build and said he smelled like motor oil. tried to grab a 2-year-old girl playing in front of her home in

an east san jose neighborhood tuesday night. neighbors are worried and angry. >> really putting his own life on the line. i don't know why my responsibilities are but i don't know if i would be kind to that person if i were to catch him in such an act. >> the girl's mother was able to hold on to her daughter and the suspect ran away. another man is wanted for trying to kidnap a young child at the great mall in milpitas sunday night. a woman says the man tried to leave a store with her 3-year- old son. she yelled at the suspect and he let go and took off. the man is described as asian, 50 to 60 years of age, 5'4" to 5'8" with a pot-belly. now we have a look at the historic gold box stolen from the oakland museum of california last week. the museum's insurance company is offering a $12,000 reward for its return. the box is 7" high and deep and 9" long.

it was taken in the second break-in at the museum in two months. the museum has increased its security since then. bay area residents are weighing in on another idea -- or an idea of another area code so get ready for 628. this would cover marin, san francisco and san mateo counties. the california puc held its first meetings yesterday for public feedback. it has two options. it can split the region so one part keeps 415 and the rest even current 415 phones would change to 628. or it can just add 628 in the 415 region. people get really possessive with their area codes, right? >> we all do. a federal judge will consider whether to block the implementation of san francisco's nudity ban at a hearing today. public nudity activists are asking the judge to block the law while he considers their lawsuit seeking to invalidate the ordinance. the nudity ban is set to go into effect on february 1. water damage to the headquarters of the oakland

unified school district may have left the century-old building unsalvageable. the sink left running overnight flooded and damaged all four floors of the structure. two dozen apartments have been scattered among buildings and portables throughout the district. and we have some breaking news here at 4:42. we are just learning that the ioc has stripped lance armstrong of his 2000 olympic bronze medal some of the fallout after his mea culpa with oprah a couple of days ago. >> not surprising. >> and probably more to come. >> yes. 4:42. a computer crime with an unusual outcome. how the victim cracked the case with his own undercover investigation. >> a little too hot to handle? why a recent surge in bay area housing prices could be a bad thing. >> doppler schmoppler, what one weatherman does when his computer crashes.

computers may crash, but as we are well aware in the tv new those are not snowflakes. as keith pointed out earlier those are stars. [ laughter ] >> this is pretty cool. computers may crash but as we

all are well aware in the television business, hey, the show has to go on. so it weatherman from tulsa had to get creative when his graphic system failed. he had to resort to drawing the graphics by hand. pretty good, actually? colorful markers there. even drew a couple of pictures of himself showing how he felt when the computer went down. lawrence, are you watching? >> he's a good artist. >> he is. >> need a sponsor on there. >> very impressive! >> you have so many minutes to fill and on tv say, i don't care if your computer is not working. fill that time. >> better learn to dance, baby. >> do you know what my pictures would look like? >> terrible. >> stick figures. >> not the best artist. around the bay area mostly clear and cold, couple of patches of fog in the valleys and thank goodness our computers are working. looking good temperatures in the 30s and 40s right now clear along the coastline and inside the bay. as we head toward the afternoon, hazy sunshine for most folks. temperatures going to be milder

today. maybe even into the mid-60s in the warmer parts of the bay area. high pressure now building in along the west coast in control now for the next few days. couple of systems off here but still racing over the top of the ridge leaving us high, dry and cloud-free with the exception of patchy fog and these temperatures warming up a few more degrees toward the afternoon. now, if you plan on traveling around the state looks like a good day to do it. 50s in the central valley, 49 in lake tahoe. maybe some patchy fog towards eureka but about 71 degrees, haven't said that in the redding area by the afternoon. so as we look around the bay today, we'll see some milder numbers,about 64 degrees in morgan hill, 63 san jose, 61, some sunshine into milpitas. and about 63 degrees in redwood city. cooler temperatures in the east bay. mid- to upper 50s for most folks there. inside the bay and the north bay looking at 50s and low 60s by the afternoon and plenty of

sunshine. high pressure through the weekend. should be a great weekend. it's a "spare the air" day so don't burn wood because of pollution. things begin to change. clouds roll back in by next wednesday, elizabeth. >> all right. "spare the air," you're also encouraged to use mass transit which by the way is all on time. let's talk about the roads. so far things look good. crossing the san mateo bridge right now, all bridge traffic is pretty much moving at the limit. the right side of your screen that is westbound 92. you can see it's looking good right now towards the high- rise. so we isn't our photographer this morning down towards san jose and this is a live look at 101 and tully this morning where northbound and southbound 101 is a nice smooth quick trip no major roadwork either across the stretch. elsewhere to our maps, eastbound highway 4 approaching 242 that accident still there possibly blocking that one lane. they just called out a tow truck to the scene so we're not seeing any slowing any longer on our sensors. on westbound or eastbound 4 it's looking good now through antioch towards the bay point

area. eastbound highway 4 at loveridge they still have one left lane blocked until 6 a.m. elsewhere dumbarton bridge roadwork continues. it's actually in the eastbound lanes of highway 84. caltrans says again until 6:00 this morning. more roadwork this time up and down the nimitz where you usually see it between the macarthur maze and about embarcadero. so just a heads up southbound 880. bart all trains off to a great start including all the downtown san francisco stops. that's a check of your "timesaver traffic." the colorado movie theater where 12 people were killed last year is re-opening for business today. the renamed and remodeled century aurora will hold a ceremony described as an evening of remembrance for victims and officials. police say james holmes opened fire on a crowd watching the latest batman movie in july of last year. it is 4:49 now. a bay area woman took it upon herself to catch a thief. her computer was taken during a

break-in at the san francisco art exchange. melissa buckner then launched a program that allows her access no matter where her computer was. she then kept checking until she finally found that it was turned on. turned on the camera and peeked in on the user. >> i knew that if someone was sitting there that i would be able to see them. >> she could see what you're seeing so she was confused and she looked it. >> the woman using buckner's computer says she bought it at a flea market for $800. they gave that computer back to buckner. a similar story from the south bay. a san jose man was able to track his stolen ipad through its gps. police joined in on the search. they found the ipad and some other stolen electronics at a home in morgan hill. the parolee at that home was arrested. the mayor of san francisco is set to announces a new way to check food safety records for restaurants around town. ed lee will make the announcement today at the winter conference of mayors in washington, d.c. the food

safety records will appear on the website yelp as soon as today. lee hopes the information will later be added to other websites that offer restaurant listings including google and trip advisor. some republican state lawmakers are proposing a tuition freeze for california state university and university of california students. >> that freeze would last for at least 7 years while prop 30 remains in effect. voters approved the tax measure this past november. some of the prop 30 revenue is earmarked for higher education. but as of now, the csu and uc boards could still raise student fees. a new national study suggests the more money parents contribute to their children's college education the lower their grades. a sociology professor telling the "new york times" the effect is modest, not big enough to make the students fail out of college. but she said it is surprising because parents assume that more money they give the better the child will perform in school. the feds are putting new

rules in place aimed at protecting homeowners from companies that collect their monthly mortgage payment. the consumer financial protection bureau says today it will require those companies to provide clear monthly billing statements, give advance warnings about interest rate hikes, and actively work with the owners to avoid foreclosure. home foreclosures fell in 2012 compared to 2011. foreclosure alsoings firm realtytrac says about 671,000 american homes were repossessed by banks last year. that's down about 17% from the year before. well, a bay area housing market is suddenly red-hot with the median house price jumping 32% since last year. in fact, prices have not risen this fast since the 1980s. steady price increases are encouraging people to sell their homes but it's not necessarily good news for those that are looking to buy. >> over and over again i have been beat out with my buyers writing offers 20 to 15,000 over asking and still not the

best offer. >> industry experts predict higher prices will eventually lead to more inventory for sale. some of the biggest gains have been in states that were hurt the worst like right here in california, arizona and nevada. time now 4:52. nearly a million-dollar heist? this morning a first look at the gold box stolen from the oakland museum. >> plus perfect conditions. what's creating the massive swells for this weekend's mavericks surfing contest. >> they are going to need a bigger boat! the typical fishing trip that turned into a scene out of the movie "jaws."

not as cold around the bay area. 20 in santa rosa. 45 though in san francisco and

35 degrees in san jose. more on your weather coming up. outside right now, here is a live look outside at the nimitz. you may notice a few flashing lights. that is your overnight roadwork still in lanes between 66 all the way towards the macarthur maze. we'll have much more "timesaver traffic" all coming up. surf's up for the first time in 3 years. >> that's right. mavericks is finally back. a storm off japan is generating swells as high as 30 feet near half moon bay. contest conditions can be extreme. strong rip currents, sharp rocks. >> when the wave hits the reef out there it's going to explode on the reef. the challenge that these guys are going to have is getting down the face of these waves. >> good luck. 24 of the most skilled surfers from all around the world have been invited to participate. it starts at 8 a.m. sunday wrapping up at sunset. forecasters say conditions should be perfect around

noontime. not in a million years. >> no way. but it's cool to watch. >> oh, yeah. it will be fun. two fishermen have had a frightening but perhaps a once- in-a-lifetime encounter with a great white. >> the four meter shark nudged a small fishing boat near y river on victoria's southwest coast. it took on the boat for 40 minutes before swimming away. looks beautiful though. right? the. >> i don't know. >> it does. from a distance. you never want to be in the water with a shark there. >> it's all right, though. the guys are all right. >> at least they were in a boat. the dreamliner turning into a nightmare. not just the faa. who else is grounding the entire fleet. >> plus, a football game not on the field. the hoax that has turned a heisman candidate into an internet joke. we'll have the latest. >> a new study found hundreds of levees throughout the united states unacceptable. what that could mean for the bay area if one of ours is on that list.

islamic militants in algeria. what's be >> your realtime captioner: linda marie macdonald. continuing crisis overseas. some hostages have escaped islamic militants in algeria. what's being done to secure the release of the rest. >> dangerous deficiencies. a new report showing levees around the country are failing. how some bay area cities may have to foot the bill. >> still freezing in some spots but milder weather is on the way. we'll talk about that coming up. >> and after a rough commute yesterday, the westbound 237 ride for silicon valley commuters off to a great start. much more "timesaver traffic" coming up. good morning. it's thursday, january 17. i'm michelle griego. >> hi, everyone. i'm frank mallicoat. new this morning 20 hostages have reportedly escape from their captors in algeria. islamic militants continue to hold dozens of foreigners at the natural gas facility. a security official in algeria

says the escapees include americans and and europeans. militants attacked the complex south of algiers yesterday. the gas plant is surrounded by the algerian army now in a standoff with the militants. >> by all indication, this is a terrorist act. we condemn it. it's serious when americans are taken hostage. >> they say they are operating in north africa. they say the raid is meant to punish algeria for helping france's military operation against islamic fighters in nearby mali. it's been over 7 years since hurricane katrina devastated new orleans and now federal inspectors have found hundreds of levees in danger of failing all across the country. cbs 5 reporter elissa harrington test us northern california levees could be at risk as well and she joins us